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Yes I do! Got the double wall black tip version during their Labor Day sale. It’s beautiful! Sounds great. It’s actually a little louder than I anticipated.
I like this design so much more than their previously available dual setup, wasn't a fan of how each muffler cocked outwards so much. I've heard ONE clip on youtube and I think the tone is perfect for a fun daily I definitely don't need another exhaust but am VERY tempted haha, maybe black Friday deals will tip the scales of my indecision
I like this design so much more than their previously available dual setup, wasn't a fan of how each muffler cocked outwards so much. I've heard ONE clip on youtube and I think the tone is perfect for a fun daily I definitely don't need another exhaust but am VERY tempted haha, maybe black Friday deals will tip the scales of my indecision
Interested as well. Is the sound inside the car noticeable a lot?
I changed the oil and filter over the weekend - it's at 159k miles now. Also, I replaced the wiper blades - looks like the last time I did that was 24k miles and several years ago...oops! But, that's why I have the logbook
And I installed a different under-engine cover - found it locally on FB marketplace for $20. It's in better shape than mine, but I'll keep the original in storage, just in case.
Update 5-Oct-2023: We had a lot of rain yesterday. The new wipers worked great, but I think I need new tires soon...it's a little skittish in the heavy rain on the highway, for sure. Oh, and the Z rolled through 160k miles.
"Accessorized" my car this weekend with some old Evo-R cf door handle covers that I forgot I had also decided to throw the Enkei GTC02's back on for "cold" California weather hahah and to maybe get some grippppy low treadwear tires for the CE28's!
Had Sony XAV-AX4000 radio installed then went home and installed my Evo-R CF overlay kit. Fitment was meh. But looks better than the scratched up oem plastic.
Time sure flies! It's been over a year since I started refreshing my 06 Enthusiast. I took some breaks over the summer (not really), got distracted with being the family mechanic, spending quality time with the wife & kids, business trips and long hours at work, and somehow still managing to find a bit of time to go fishing. Working on other people's cars back to back starts to take it's toll and loss of motivation starts to set in (also super hot weather is brutal to work in!). Fall is here now and soon winter. A perfect time to get back into the Z. I haven't been completely idle, but things slowed to a crawl for a bit.
Since I haven't had the appropriate free time to start the interior paint work, I decided to focus on exterior cosmetics. Having the front end repainted made me paranoid to drive the Z, it sat in my garage so much so, that the battery started getting weak! I made some calls and scheduled an appointment to get PPF installed on the front bumper (Expel Ultimate Plus) after waiting the recommended cure time (90 days or so). I also had all the windows re-tinted (including front windshield). I went with Xpel's XR Prime Plus Ceramic tint, 70% front glass, 45% door glass, and 35% for the rear half. Dark enough to achieve what I want, but light enough that I shouldn't get hassled by LEOs. The car looks good with the new tint and PPF. I'm no longer super paranoid about rock chips on the front bumper. I know they will happen and I'm ok with that, I just want to minimize what I can to keep the car looking fresh for as long as possible. The biggest thing is still Smiles Per Gallon and this car still gives me that!
This past weekend I decided it was time to get going on the GKtech trans bushing inserts and shifter springs. I also re-visited the gktech diff brace, I was never happy with how it installed the 1st go around. Reason being, the buttress joint near the top capture bolt/nut *did* not allow for enough clearance to use a box wrench, or socket, and secure the nylock nut for final torque down. So I did some slight tweaking to resolve this issue and make sure I have all the brace fasteners properly torqued. I also added a little grease where the brace sits flush with the subframe to minimize any metal on metal squeaks/creaks.
More work to come this weekend. I only took a few pictures and I'm not happy with how they came out. I'll get some more shots and provide some more details about the gktech shift springs next week (That or I'll just edit this post and add in the photos).
This winter I hope to start tackling the remainder of the cosmetics. Items that still need attention:
Complete Stereo System w/Backup Cam
Driver's seat bucket swap (Got the side bolster foam repaired, still not installed!)
R&R All interior paint pieces with crappy rubberized coating
New OEM front headlights w/GTR lighting switchback LED signal bulb upgrade
iJDMtoy front bumper LED kit install (06+ version looks sharp!)
Front bumper chin/lip kit
Evo-R rear hatch duckbill spoiler
Install OEM Cats (this coming weekend) in preparation for Smog in Spring Note: I'm honestly sick of the rasp, the ART pipes DO NOT pair nicely with my Bassani catback.
FULL PAINT CARE REGIMEN (Wash/Clary Bar/Polish & Compounding/Paint Prep/Ceramic Coat)
Final Step, sit back and enjoy the ride.
I went with Xpel's XR Prime Plus Ceramic tint, 70% front glass, 45% door glass, and 35% for the rear half. Dark enough to achieve what I want, but light enough that I shouldn't get hassled by LEOs.
70% on the windshield in Cali... You're gonna get hassled. CA cops are very good at spotting tinted windshields. You're better off with clear UV/IR rejecting film.
I disagree, 70% is the lightest/clearest you can typically get (at least for ceramic). No joke, it doesn't even look like there's any tint present. The factory side glass tint is darker than this.
-Icer
I disagree, 70% is the lightest/clearest you can typically get (at least for ceramic). No joke, it doesn't even look like there's any tint present. The factory side glass tint is darker than this.
-Icer
Trust me. Cops can tell. Cali laws don't allow anything on the windshield past 4" down. The factory side tint is 70%. That's the max allowed by NHTSA.
Well, then I'll just be playing the odds. I drove for 7 years in the SF Bay Area with front windshield tint on my old Z, never once got hassled for it. These days, I think CA LEOs simply don't care anymore. They got bigger problems to deal with. I've seen an increasing number of vehicles cruising up and down the roadways with straight Limousine tint (8%) all around. No one seems to get hassled. That being said, I'm sure if you get pulled over for doing something incredibly stupid and give a LEO a hard time (disrespect), then they will for sure start looking for "addon" tickets such as missing front plate or illegal tint.
TLDR, most LEOs won't bother you unless you draw to much attention to yourself.
Cheers!
-Icer
As promised, some pics of the work I conducted last week. I also started the OEM CAT re-install this past weekend. Sadly I ran into exhaust leak issues again between the CATs and X-pipe flanges. This has been an ongoing issue. The Bassani catback I'm running has alignment issues with the 2-bolt flanges. They don't appear to be planed (flat) and the welded angle is slightly off. There's also stacking tolerance issues since I'm running the DC Sport shorty exhaust manifolds. I got it all bolted back together and did a quick start check while it was still on my wheel cribs. Immediately I could hear/see/feel an exhaust leak on the driver's side flange. I believe this issue would be minimized with some short flex-pipe welded on the X-pipe. But I haven't been able to find a local quality muffler shop that would take on the job. So this leaves me with just dealing with the problem for now. I may purchase a new catback system just because I'm sick of this issue. I think this is the 3rd time I've had a leak at this joint (anytime I touch it really). Another set of gaskets wasted. Time to pour on the high-temp RTV again.
Enough about my troubles, let's see some successes. Gktech trans mount stiffener kit & shifter return spring kit.
Bushings installed. Super easy. Driver's (L) side spring port. Hardest one to get to because of the mass damper and limited space. You need a 27mm wrench for this. Passenger (R) side spring port. Easy mode assuming you have a 27mm spanner. OEM (blue) vs. Gktech (silver). Notice the difference in awg/thickness, but also in length. The Gktech spring is 1/8" shorter than the OEM, but the spring rate is significantly greater. My handywork on the diff brace. I ground 1/8-1/4"off the tip of the buttress. Now I can easily put a box wrench over the nut for final torque down. I re-shot the ground areas with some Rustoleum Satin Black to prevent rust. How it looks from the back. I chose this brace since it's compatible with the Nismo diff cover. My Z in "maintenance mode." Forgive the messy garage. To many active projects, so little time.
How do you like the springs? I have them in my s13, and it made a big difference but my Z being such low miles, i'm unsure its "worth it" even though they are such a negligible price.
I'm actually planning on making a detailed update on the progress with my Z refresh and I was going to talk more about the gktech shifter return springs. I got a lot of work done over the Holidays.
Specifically in regards to the Gktech springs, I selected the softer option in the package (two sets are included). Even with the increased weight of my Lathewerks shift ****, the springs are quite strong, and offer excellent resistance. There is absolutely ZERO slop or play in the return of the shift ****. Getting into reverse can actually be a little difficult because of the force required, this is the only con. Of course, this is nothing new, getting into reverse has always felt a little weird with these transmissions, even with the OEM return springs. I should note that my Lathewerks **** is threaded nearly to the apex or crown of the ****. When fully installed, this decreases the sitting z-height of the **** considerably and gives the car a short-shifter look. There are pros and cons to this. The pro is simply that the throws between gears feel shorter and thus makes banging through the gears fast and fun! The con is that my hand or fingers sometimes feel like they will get pinched around the shift boot bezel or AC controls when shifting into 1st, 3rd, 5th, and reverse. Perhaps I'm over thinking it and I just need more time to adjust. I haven't had tons of time behind the wheel yet, only about 200mi or so since I finished these mods.
Building on this, the Gktech transmission bushing stiffener kit has paired very nicely with the shifter springs. There is a lot less movement in the transmission when applying and removing engine torque loads, this results in smoother/easier shifts. This is all achieved without increasing NVH either, so driver comfort is fully maintained. There's still a tiny amount of trans movement that you can feel through the shift ****, but it feels reduced at least 75% compared to before.
In terms of installation difficulty, the passenger side is very easy, but the driver's side is a completely different beast. I struggled for over an hour trying different combinations of ratchets and wrenches to get the 3-bolts that hold on the mass damper. There simply isn't enough space to get a socket or wrench on the shift spring cap while this thing is in the way. You also need to remove the support crossmember and support the transmission with blocks or a floor jack, again because you can't swing or turn a wrench in that tight space while this is in the way.
What ultimately worked for me was using a 1/4 ratchet with a 12mm deep socket to get the upper two 12mm bolts and a 12mm gear or box wrench to get the lower bolt (at least I'm pretty certain they were 12mm). You can't actually see the upper bolts, so you need to do everything by feel with your fingertips (also difficult). Once the bolts are started, you can remove the ratchet or box wrench and just use your fingers to spin the bolts out the rest of the way. At least one of the bolts you can't even take out all the way because the steel plates capture it. This mass damper piece is really designed to be removed from the transmission while the whole trans is out of the car. The stack of metal plates is held on by a single 14mm nut, but that nut is on a vertical stud at the very top and I could not get enough leverage or angle to crack it free without potentially stripping it out, so I chose to remove the entire mounting bracket with the plates still attached. In the end it all worked out, no bolts were stripped and I didn't bang up the transmission tunnel or painted surfaces. You just need some patience and a clear head to tackle this with the trans in the car.
Please refer to "View A" in the screencap. View A displays the mass damper with bracket, there are 3 bolts total to remove.
Last piece of install advice, I highly recommend keeping the factory spring caps over the supplied gktech caps. The OEM caps are steel while the gktech replacements are aluminum. You need to get the caps firmly snugged down (18ft/lb) and use RTV on the threads to prevent fluid leaks (that's how Nissan did it). If you ever had to remove those aluminum gktech caps in the future, there's a high chance you will round/strip them. So do yourself a favor and re-use the OEM caps.
I hope that answers your question in detail . So far I'm really liking how the whole car feels. It's really all come together. The suspension work, clutch work, bushing work, and small things like these shifter springs and shift ****, have all added up and made the car drive and feel amazing. My tuner gave the vehicle a lot of praise on how smooth and balanced it drives and feels.
Cheers!
-Icer
I definitely don't need another exhaust but am VERY tempted haha, maybe black Friday deals will tip the scales of my indecision
. So far I'm really liking how the whole car feels. It's really all come together. The suspension work, clutch work, bushing work, and small things like these shifter springs and shift ****, have all added up and made the car drive and feel amazing. My tuner gave the vehicle a lot of praise on how smooth and balanced it drives and feels.